BUNZEL] THE COMING OF THE GODS 955 



out and takes them into the oeremonial room of the priests. In that 

 room are the wives of all the priests and the women of all the houses 

 where they keep the sacred bundles of the priests. Each woman 

 brings with her 10 loaves of bread and 10 rolls of paper bread. All 

 the head priests are met in their ceremonial room. Then the Koyemci 

 come in and their father talks to the priests and the women and says, 

 'All year we have been praying for you and now we have finished our 

 year. We have worked hard for our people that their crops may grow. 

 We will never forget, oiu" fathers, that you have picked us out for 

 this. ' In his prayer he tells them that they have all been praying 

 for their people and that now they have finished their year. Then 

 all in the room breathe in. Then the village chief prays also and says 

 that he is very thankful that all year they have worked and prayed 

 for the people.^' 



After they have finished their prayers, the women spread out sand 

 on the floor. They take the father of the Koyemci first. Pie comes 

 forward to the women of the sacred houses. Then he removes his 

 breechcloth and stands there entirely naked and the women wash 

 him all over because the Koyemci are the most valuable of all the gods. 

 Their paint is valuable, and therefore, they must be washed in the 

 sacred room of the priests. All the others watch him and do just 

 as he does. They all remove their breechcloths and stand there 

 naked while the women wash them. They do not try to cover them- 

 selves, but stand there naked in front of all these women. After 

 they have all been bathed the pekwin takes them out to the plaza. 

 As they are going out the women all stand in line and as each goes by 

 each woman gives each of them one loaf of bread and one roll of paper 

 bread, because she has touched their bodies. 



Then they come out into the plaza. There their fathers' brothers 

 are waiting for them. They get them and take them to their houses.^* 

 They take them to their houses; each goes to the house of his 

 father's sister. All their father's clan are met in their father's ances- 

 tral house. Long ago the men used to bring deer meat and the 

 women bread. Now they bring whatever they have and presents 

 from the store — meal and flour, meat, whole sheep, bolts of cloth, 

 blankets, and new clothing. All the women are sitting around the 

 wall, and each has her presents on the floor in front of her. The 

 Koyemci sits facing the east. His real aunts mLx yucca seeds and 

 sprinkle his head wdth water. He does not unmask. Each man 

 brings a prayer stick for him to pray for their long life and for the 

 rain and the crops. His father's brother bundles up the feathers and 

 hands them to the Koyemci, and they both hold them and present 

 them to the six directions. The man gives them to him with a 



" For these prayers see p. 777. 



^t' " Someone always meets the katc-inas when they are through dancing. For the others it is their 

 fathers* sisters, but the Koyemci are dilTerent. It is always their fathers' brothers who meet them." 



